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On the night of October 29th to 30th, 2022, there was a mass panic in South Korea’s capital Seoul that cost over 150 people their lives. However, not much has happened in politics since then.
A narrow, short alley leads to one of the big party miles in the South Korean metropolis of Seoul. A fatal disaster occurred there on the night of October 30th a year ago.
Nobody wants to be responsible for this tragedy.
Artist Park, who lost a good friend that night, stands at the entrance to the alley and complains that so far no one has taken responsibility for the accident: “No one wants to be responsible for this tragedy.”
He removes yellow post-its from a wall in the alley containing messages and memories of the deceased. Half a dozen people help the artist. They come here about every two weeks to collect the news.
Legend:
This alley became a death trap for 159 young people.
SRF
The artist collective wants to create a memorial from the Post-it messages. “We are collecting the news to make room for another memorial,” said Park.
Legend:
Even a year after the disaster, many offerings are still being left at the scene of the accident.
Reuters/Soo Hyeon Kim
It will be a work that will also serve as a reminder of the failure of the authorities that night a year ago. The police did not respond to dozens of emergency calls or responded too late. No preparations were made to control the expected crowd of partygoers.
What particularly bothers artist Park and many of the survivors is how the catastrophe was and is being dealt with by the South Korean authorities and politicians. So far, only officials in lower positions have been brought to trial, but no one from higher ranks.
“We are still waiting”
Another accusation is that the government did not draw the necessary conclusions from the disaster. A law that is intended to regulate responsibility for safety during large crowds of people is stuck in parliament. Park: “We are still waiting for the security law.”
Legend:
Artist Park and his colleagues want to create a memorial from the messages left behind.
SRF
So he comes with his colleagues every two weeks to collect the memories on the yellow post-its. Now that it’s the first anniversary of the Halloween disaster, they have a lot to do.